LEARNING TO LEARN: TEACHING STUDENTS HOW TO STUDY METHODICALLY
For Jean Mantha, Macdonald-Cartier Academy’s headmaster as well as the school’s founder, what makes the program at his private junior high school different is that it teaches kids to learn in a way that’s based on common sense.
“They learn to learn here,” he said, “and that helps prepare them for high school, university and life.”
Mantha and the school’s teachers instil four basic techniques in their students: effective listening; taking “intelligent” class notes; practicing (doing homework); and methodic studying. They also structure a healthy dose of physical education into students’ schedules (three classes of 1.5 hours a week, plus trips for cycling, rock climbing or dogsledding every five weeks), allowing them to expend energy.
Effective listening starts with helping students identify what they’re doing when they’re not listening — like doodling, for example — and rectify it, and also by showing them how to sit in a manner that boosts concentration, while making and maintaining eye contact with teachers.
Intelligent class notes were developed by Mantha to help students take organized notes in subject-specific binders. Students are asked to identify concepts that are difficult for them, and to note what teachers find imperative.
“I want the kids to understand that their class notes have to speak to them, to say ‘I have difficulties with this, and this is very important,’ ” explained Mantha.
He admits that many of his students find homework annoying, but the school’s job is to change that.
“We have to make them understand that there’s a purpose to homework,” he said.
To do that, Mantha compares homework to an athlete’s training regimen, which students can relate to. Just as athletes repeat exercises and movements to perfect their form, homework rewires the brain to understand new concepts.
“Homework is designed for them to put into practice what they’re learning,” Mantha said, “and for the brain to work it over so that it becomes natural to understand.”
Corrections are an equally crucial part of doing homework, because Mantha has seen how making, recognizing and revising errors helps the students learn from their mistakes.
Along with corrected homework, studying methodically helps students target what they need to focus on by using their intelligent class notes to identify concepts they have difficulties with.
In addition to its unique teaching approach and focus on physical activity, Mantha also credits smaller class size (15 students per class, on average), monthly staff meetings and a smaller staff size (eight teachers) with Macdonald-Cartier’s success.
“Everyone’s on the same page,” Mantha said. “And that’s key.”
For more information, visit mcacademy.ca.